Muscat: A green light blazing across the Omani night sky on Monday was most likely part of a Russian rocket falling back to earth, Omani experts say.
Residents posted video and photos of what looked like a green comet — complete with tail — whizz across the night sky.
In fact, residents saw a Russian rocket breaking up after re-entering the earth's atmosphere on Monday night, according to astronomers.
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Suleiman Al Busaidi, Curator of the Planetarium at PDO, said people in Buraimi had the best view of the re-entry and break-up of the rocket.
"It is a piece of rocket breaking up, which people saw around 7.30 pm on Monday," he told Times of Oman.
"The Progress MS-07 spacecraft was launched on the 14th of October, to resupply the International Space Station with over two tonnes of food. The rocket weighed 2,355 kilograms, was 6.7 metres long and 2.7 meters wide, and was scheduled to re-enter and fall into the Indian Ocean," Al Busaidi added.
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He added that people of other Gulf countries also saw the night sky lit up by the debris returning to earth. "However, no harm has been done to Oman," he said.
A large number of people in Oman shared online videos and pictures of the light seen in the sky on Monday night.
The spacecraft, which blasted off from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch complex in Kazakhstan, carried 2.5 metric tonnes (2.75 tonnes) of water, food and scientific equipment to the International Space Station.